Let My People Go!

Time Out says

3 out of 5 stars

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Users say

Time Out says

3 out of 5 stars

Some movies nudge, others push, but if you don’t mind being shoved into a bubbly froth of gay camp and comic Jewish hysteria, Mikael Buch’s not-wholly-unlikable confection lends two hands. A generous sense of humor is all that’s required to get over the stereotypically fey persona of Ruben (Regular Lovers’ Nicolas Maury), a blissed-out Frenchman doing his thing in Finland with a blond boyfriend and a chirpy postal job. Delivering the mail one day, Ruben is pressed into accepting a shady package of thousands of Euros. Panicking, he flees his candy-colored Eden and lands back in Paris, where kvetchy family members absorb him in their own high-pitched drama (the acorn doesn’t fall far from the tree).

Ceaselessly upbeat and just short of zany, Let My People Go! will bring smiles of recognition to anyone who hasn’t seen early Woody Allen in a while: Among the many asides and flashbacks is a gag for an aerosol spray that converts a Palestinian-defending in-law into a devout breaker of bread. Scripting with Ma Mère’s outré Christophe Honoré, Buch leavens his jokes with warmth for the ensemble, especially Almodóvar mainstay Carmen Maura as a frenetic mom. The mysterious money, the forlorn Finnish cutie, the impending seder—you don’t really need these predictabilities spelled out for you, when the destination smells as strongly as Passover horseradish.